Written by Jasmine Hightower, Copyeditor.

According to journalist Diane K. Roberts, with today’s widespread mistrust of the media, critical thinking is the utmost necessity.  

Roberts will discuss that topic and more when the English Department hosts a literary reading with the author and commentator on Wednesday March. 26, at 7 p.m. in the Odum Library Theater. 

Roberts is a professor of literature and writing at Florida State University. She is known for her sharp and political commentary and has contributed to The New York Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the BBC and many other news outlets. 

In addition to the reading, Roberts will conduct a craft talk on the following day at 2 p.m. in the Odum Theater as well. The craft talk will offer insights into writing and storytelling, drawing from her experience as both a cultural commentator and a historical observer. 

Ahead of the event, Roberts emphasizes the importance of critical thinking in today’s media. 

“An attempt to get people to question what they have been told,” Roberts said when asked about what inspires her to keep writing in an age of distrust in journalism. “Just because you hear something that reinforces what you want to believe, what you want to hear. That’s what confirmation bias is called. To get people to say, and I don’t care what people’s politics are or whatever, they need to say, is that real? How do I know it’s real?” 

Roberts also gave a sneak peak of some key strategies she will be talking about for inspiring writers to use to perfect their craft. 

“OK, well, I’m going to talk about storytelling, and how you figure out what is the story I’m trying to tell, she said. “This is true, whether you’re writing a memoir about yourself, your life, or whether it’s a piece about, you know, a landfill that’s leaching a whole bunch of pollution into your water source What’s the story? How do you figure out what to put in there and what not to put in there?” 

“Sometimes it depends on what type of writing you’re attempting,” she said.  

“If you’re writing for a newspaper, this is often not possible, because you’ve got to get it in right now,” Roberts said. “But for magazines and for other, maybe more literary journalism, literary non-fiction, you sit there and you write and you write and you write, so then you have to look at it again and go, oh, here’s the good part, here’s the bad part, so we’ll see how that works for people, because I know rewriting is not necessarily something that everybody wants to hear.” 

Whether you’re a writer, reader or simply a fan of thoughtful and humorous commentary, Robert’s visit promises to be an engaging and thought-provoking experience. 

 Photo courtesy of MGN.